Designing cost effective sludge and septage treatment systems to treat the septage and sludge generated in rural and suburban regions of the U.S. is a very challenging design problem. Treatment technologies relying on high energy mechanical systems such as sequencing bath reactors, activated sludge systems, or oxidation ditches often operate at significant costs, e.g., about $8.50 to $20.00 per 1000 gallons of septage and sludge. See, for example, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Land Application of Municipal Wastewater”, 1980, Table 8-6. Activated sludge systems, which are the most common type of municipal wastewater treatment facilities in use, can generate between 1 to 4 pounds of atmospheric carbon for every one pound of carbon removed. There remains a need for less energy intensive and environmentally friendly methods of treating septage and sludge.